Curiosity's Rear View, Annotated

August 06, 2012

This is a labeled version of one of the first images taken by a rear Hazard-Avoidance camera on NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars the evening of Aug. 5 PDT (morning of Aug. 6 EDT). The image shows a fin on the radioisotope thermoelectric generator (the rover's power source), the rear left wheel and a spring that released the dust cover on the Hazard-Avoidance camera.

It was taken through a "fisheye" wide-angle lens. The unlabeled version is available at PIA15973. It is one-half of full resolution.

Part of the rim of Gale Crater, which is a feature the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined, can be seen at the upper right of the image.